(a) No person shall establish or operate a coal refuse disposal area or enter upon an inactive coal refuse disposal area or reactive an inactive operation for the purposes of coal refuse disposal without first having obtained a permit from the department.(b) The department shall not issue any coal refuse disposal permit or renew or amend any permit if it finds, after investigation and an opportunity for informal hearing, that: (1) the applicant has failed and continues to fail to comply with any of the provisions of this act or of any of the acts repealed or amended hereby; or(2) the applicant has shown a lack of ability or intention to comply with such laws as indicated by past or continuing violations. Any person, partnership, association or corporation which has engaged in unlawful conduct as defined in section 7 of this act or which has a partner, associate, officer, parent corporation, subsidiary corporation, contractor or subcontractor which has engaged in such unlawful conduct shall be denied any permit required by this act unless the permit application demonstrates that the unlawful conduct is being corrected to the satisfaction of the department. Persons other than the applicant, including independent subcontractors, who are proposed to operate under the permit shall be listed in the application and those persons shall be subject to approval by the department prior to their engaging in coal refuse disposal operations, and such persons shall be jointly and severally liable with the permittee for violations of this act with which the permittee is charged and in which such persons participate.1968, Sept. 24, P.L. 1040, No. 318, § 4. Amended 1980, Oct. 10, P.L. 807, No. 154, § 3, imd. effective.